


Snapshots

by TigerWolfDemon



Series: Long Shadows [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Canon Autistic Character, Canon Disabled Character, Canon Trans Character, Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gender Dysphoria, Multi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:00:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28402095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigerWolfDemon/pseuds/TigerWolfDemon
Summary: A sequel series to the parenthood logs. How the princes and princesses of Etheria became who they are as adults, even if the long shadows of a war they had nothing to do with still effect their lives. A series of snapshots about the next generation, probably some out of order. Ages will be listed in the start of the chapters as well as any trigger warnings.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Double Trouble/Wrong Hordak (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Series: Long Shadows [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2069700
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Snapshots

**Author's Note:**

> Ages  
> Citrine 12  
> Liam & Abby 14  
> Nicole 16  
> Cobalt 20  
> Entrapta 51  
> Hordak old

Citrine stared at herself in the mirror, and flattened her chest with her hands. Her long red hair was kept in a low ponytail, as she styled after her oldest brother Cobalt. However it didn't have the effect she wanted. Her red eyes glanced at the scissors on her desk, and not for the first time. She bit her lip. She wrapped her hair around her. The twelve year old blinked when she saw her brother Liam leaving the bathroom. His hair was even longer than hers and no one ever thought he was a girl. Citrine's hair wrapped tighter around himself. That was the first time he had fully admitted that, even in his head. He stared at the open bathroom, he knew he only had a few minutes before his mom would pop by to make sure he was ready for school. He dashed across the hall and very stealthy rammed directly into Abby.

"Hey watch where you're going butt" the fourteen year old snapped.

"Sorry, I just really need to pee." Citrine danced in place, trying not to seem suspicious.

"You do know Liam just left there right?" Abby asked, raising an eyebrow.

"So?" Citrine scratched his face nervously.

"Fine if you wanna sit in the fart and body spray sauna be my guest. It's your funeral." Abby shrugged, but grabbed her sister's shoulder before Citrine could close the door. "Don't touch the tissue box."

Citrine just nodded and quickly shut the door. He let out a deep breath and instantly regretted breathing back in. The twelve year old quickly covered his nose with his hair, as he focused on the task at hand. His eyes glistening as he spotted the bottle of hair gel that Liam used to spike up the top of his hair. Greedy hair strands instinctively wrapped around the bottle, only to find themselves sticking to it. Citrine grimaced as he loosened his hair, taking it in his hands. He squeezed an amount in his hands and went to work. He grinned, rubbing the gel in his hair, then reached for the piece de resistant. His slippery hands immediately dropped the body spray and it smacked loudly against the stone tile floor.

"Sweetie, you okay in there?" Entrapta knocked from the other side of the door.

"Yeah I'm fine mom, just finishing getting ready." Citrine said quickly.

"Okay, well you're going to need to hurry up a bit. Or you'll all gonna be late."

"It's fine mom, I'll be out in a sec." Citrine huffed, finally managing to grip the body spray. He bit his lip as he saw the cracked top on the body spray. He panicked, debating on putting it back, he knew Liam was going to be pissed that he broke it. However, it was the final touch. That artificiality smell was his ticket to being himself. Citrine held his breath and sprayed. After a second, he pulled his finger off, only to find the can was still on. His red eyes burned as he desperately tried to shut the spray off, as the smell overtook the already strong smelling room. He gasped opening the door, fleeing downstairs, as the body spray continued it's mission to pollute the castle with the smell of middle school boys. 

Hordak coughed, his nose infiltrated by an all too familiar smell, "Liam, son, I think you sprayed too much of that stuff on again." The king called, only to see his oldest son running downstairs, his hands covering his nose.

"That shithead made the entire hallway smell like douchebag" Cobalt gagged, before glaring at his younger brother.

"What, no I didn't! I finished in the shower like fifteen minutes ago! And you smell like douchebag." He snipped at his older brother.

"Yeah cause your stupid spray." Cobalt grumbled back.

Hordak, who at this point was also covering his nose, grimaced as the scent got even stronger.

"Hordak, where's Ci- oh....fuc- fudge it smells, interesting in here." Entrapta smiled, gently patting Liam's head, although it was fairly obvious she was holding her breath.

"It wasn't me!" Liam yelled, raising his hands up defensively.

Nicole walked in, wearing a gas mask over her face, her hand gripped on Abby's arm. "I found this fleeing the scene of the crime."

"Okay it wasn't me either!" The younger twin spat, "why do you guys always go thinking it's us whenever this stuff happens?!"

"It saves time." Hordak stated, eyeing down the twins. The family however soon were all covering their faces with any available cloth, and even Nicole sounded like she was gagging behind the mask as Citrine walked in.

"Hey I told you not to mess with my stuff!" Liam growled, as Cobalt held him back by his arm.

Hordak and Entrapta turned towards their youngest daughter, whose face was as red as her crimson hair, which looked a bit like she lost a fight with Spinerella and decided to preserve it in gel. Her red eyes pricked with tears. 

Hordak just sighed, "Entrapta take the rest of the kids to school. Citrine, go use one of the bathrooms downstairs and try and wash that stuff off. We'll talk after."

The others just nodded, and Citrine quickly dashed towards the nearest bathroom.  
\---------------------------------

Double trouble raised an eyebrow as the king arrived, "Look at you being late and-" The shifter's face grimaced as they caught a whiff of Hordak, "gods, what did you get jumped by your son's baseball team? You smell like a mid life crisis. Is this a cry for help?"

"Citrine broke the trigger on Liam's body spray trying to get the hair gel and now half the castle smells like this." The king sighed, rubbing his temples.

"She got into Liam's stuff? I thought she was Cobalt's little shadow?" 

"She was for the longest time, although once she started middle school she's been getting more into Liam's stuff. Not that he's thrilled about it."

The shifter's eyes narrowed a bit and they rubbed their chin, "Does she ya know ever get into her sisters' stuff?"

"Pfft no, most of her life she was always trying to do stuff her brothers did. Especially Cobalt. Honestly I think he's been kind of sad his little shadow is gone." Hordak smiled softly.

"Yes yes, Reminiscing is cute." The shifter rolled their eyes, trying to get the king to focus, "Didn't Citrine freak out when she started puberty?" 

"Oh it was the worst, poor thing was depressed for weeks. Remember, we all went for ice cream to help her feel better."

"How can someone this smart be so dense." Double trouble groaned, they saw Hordak about to huff at them but put their fingers against his mouth to shush him, "Citrine flipped shit when she started puberty, always did what her brothers did, and has been getting into Liam's stuff. Liam being the most typical teenage boy of your son's. And seemed to have an incident with body spray that is only ever worn by middle school boys, butch lesbians and dude bros."

Hordak's face scrunched as he tried to process what his in law was trying to tell him, "She's a butch lesbian?"

"No stupid, I think they're trans." 

"Oh, that would explain some of their behavior. I wonder why they didn't come and talk to one of us about it."

"They're a mildly autistic twelve year old, emotions are hard enough for them, let alone trying to explain it to anyone else. Also, they're the youngest of five. Between the twins causing chaos, Cobalt being an anxious mess, Nicole's social anxiety with anyone who isn't family. Probably hard for them to get a word in."

Hordak's face fell, "Am I being a bad father?"

"What no, you're a great dad. I just think Citrine is scared to tell you and Entrapta, because being a teen is hard and they're not the greatest at expressing their emotions to other people." The shifter sighed before giving their brother in law a pat on the shoulder, "just don't confront them about it. Let them tell you. And don't doubt yourself so much. You're not a perfect dad, but those kids are lucky to have you."

"Thanks Trouble"

"You're welcome, now let's stop with all this Schmaltzy shit. I have a reputation."

\------------------------------

Hordak watched his wife sink into the bed beside him, her reading glasses perched on her nose as she scanned over her notes.

"Starlight, I'm worried about Citrine" Hordak said, his deep pressed worry lines formed on his forehead, "I think they're trans."

"Oh, I already figured that" Entrapta reassured, smiling.

"Wait. What." The king blinked.

"Yeah?" The queen looked confused, "I thought that was obvious? Was that not obvious? I'm not usually good at reading people so I assumed it was clear."

"Starlight you're brilliant, we've been married for many decades. Don't assume I know anything. " The king said, a little exasperated. He smiled a bit as his wife laughed, "So what are we gonna do?"

"Just wait til they tell us and support them. Also can we just say we forgot to buy Liam more of that body spray stuff at the store for like the next few months, I don't think I can stand to smell it anymore." 

"Gods yes, I feel like I have that smell burnt into my olfactories. You weren't the one who had to fish the empty can out. Poor Citrine took like four showers and they still smelled like it. Also we're just going to have to burn the clothes they were wearing and possibly just that whole room. I don't know how long it will take to get the smell out of the towels and their shirt." Hordak sighed, "This is our life now." The king rubbed his temples when he heard arguing outside the door. "Why did we have five children again."

"We wanted three, got twins on the third try and then we drank way too much on one of our anniversaries." Entrapta smiled, immediately putting her finger on the tip of her nose "also no nose goes."

"That's not even fair! I don't have a nose!" Hordak grumbled as he got out of bed, he relaxed a little as Entrapta got up with him. They laced their fingers as they walked out into the hallway and immediately let out a deep sigh, that only comes with being the parents of multiple teenagers.

Liam and Citrine were a tangled ball of hair and claws, as they wrestled in the hall. "Stay. Out. Of. My. Room." Liam growled, as he tried to put his younger sibling in a headlock, he yelped as Citrine bit him.

"Hey!" Hordak yelled, causing his two kids to immediately let go of each other and point at the other one.

"She started it"  
"He started it"

"You three out of the vents" Entrapta stated, "go to bed. It's a school night."

Audible grumbles sounded from the vent and was soon replaced with the sound of shuffling.

"Alright, what happened." Hordak asked.

"Citrine took my jacket and my shirt out of my room." Liam stated, glaring at his younger sibling.

"Well Liam started the fight when he shoved me." Citrine replied, returning the glare.

"Did you take stuff out of your brother's room without asking?" Hordak continued.

"Well.....yes." Citrine said softly, looking down at the floor.

The king turned to his son, "did you shove Citrine?"

"Yeah....." Liam sighed, scratching the back of his head, turning to look at his younger sibling, "Sorry I shoved you. Just a little bit frustrated with you getting into my shit."

"Sorry I took your stuff, I just think you're cool and wanted to be like you." Citrine confessed, still not looking up at their brother.

"Wait, you think I'm cool?...I mean yeah, duh I'm totally cool." Liam said, folding his arms and giving a smirk he thought made him look tough, but really just made him look more like he was overcompensating. "You can borrow my shit, just ask beforehand. And if you want I can show you how to use the gel, you used way too much."

"Really?!" Citrine beamed, bouncing on their toes.

Hordak yawned, "okay, good talk. Go to bed."

"Yes dad" the two teens said, rolling their eyes.

"Sweet dreams my babies!" Entrapta smiled.

"Sweet dreams mom" said the two teens and three voices from the vent.

"I thought we told you three to go to bed- go sleep, all of you." Hordak sighed, his wife patted his back as everyone left.  
\------------------------------------

Citrine yawned as they walked towards the downstairs bathroom to get ready for the day, only to be cornered by Liam.

"Alright, what's actually going on here." Liam asked, holding his datapad.

"I told you, I just wanted to be more like you." The younger sibling coughed.

"Yeah, but why. You're literally such a goodie goodie. The data doesn't make sense." He showed them a graph, "You're way more like Cobalt and also you're kind of a nark, no offense, yet you wanna be like me? That's not what's going on. So what is it?"

"If I tell you will you promise not to tell anyone?" Citrine said, looking surprisingly serious.

"Okay?" Liam stated, looking confused.

"I'm...I'm trans. I'm a guy. And Cobalt's look hasn't been making me feel more masculine, so I thought I'd copy you cause you're more like a typical gross teen boy. And you have longer hair than me and no one says you're a girl."

"Oh okay, that makes sense. I'll lay a shirt out for you." Liam yawned, scratching his peach fuzz.

"Wait that's it?" Citrine blinked, "I just poured my heart out and you're just like okay."

"What? You want me to be mad?" 

"Well no, I just thought you'd react?"

"You're trans not dying. Also I kind of already figured out that you were trans." Liam yawned again, rubbing his eyes.

"Wait. What. How."

"Lil bro, you're an Ironstone. There's no subtlety in this family. Also I'm lazy not stupid. You might as well have a big ass sign above your head." The older brother laughed.

"Fuck. You think our parents know?" 

"Mom, probably. She's not good at people but she is good at patterns. Dad? Pfft no. He was raised in a society where he wasn't a person, let alone anything about gender." Liam stated firmly, looking at his little brother who looked like he was about to cry. "Hey, hey there's no need for waterworks." He wrapped his little brother in a hug.

"You think they're going to accept me?" Citrine whispered into his chest.

"What? Of course. They fucking adore you dumbass. Dad would have killed me if I had body sprayed the castle."

"Yeah cause *hic* you would have done it on purpose." Citrine hiccuped at his older brother.

"Not the point. The point is. They love you. And we all love you too. Nobody is going to be mad. You just have to promise not to take my title as the handsome one."

The little brother looked his older brother up and down, "You're supposed to be the handsome one?"

"Ya know what, I take it back. No shirt for you." Liam smirked, dashing up the hall.

"Wait no! You're totally handsome!" Citrine called, chasing after his brother.

"Nope, no take backsies." Liam said in a sing song voice.

"Please?"

"Hmmmmm" He scratched his chin, "fine. I guess." He grinned, ruffling his little brother's hair. 

Citrine smiled pulling Liam in for a hug, "thanks Liam, you're the best."

"Yeah, I know."

\-------------------

Liam looked at his little brother skeptically when he walked in with the bandages, Citrine had been borrowing his clothes for a few weeks now. Although mostly his shirts and jackets, as the pants were just too long and too big. The shirts were still pretty baggy, but they made it work.

"What are those for?" Liam asked, as he saw Citrine dump them in his backpack.

"I'm going to use them to bind up my chest when we get to school."

"Wooh wooh wooh there, isn't that kind of i don't know. Dangerous?" Liam stated, nervously.

"What, maybe. I mean it's just going to be for the day at school. I don't think I'm going to die in like six hours." Citrine shrugged, reaching for one of Liam's shirts.

Liam whipped a tendril of violet hair at his brother's hand, "No. You can't borrow my shirt if you do this. I'm not letting you hurt yourself. Just tell mom and dad, and they'll get you a binder or something."

"No.....I don't want to tell them yet. I just really want to do this once." Citrine pleaded. 

Liam bit his lip, as he counted pros and cons with his hair. He sighed deeply, "No dude. If you do this. I will tell mom and dad. I'm not risking you getting hurt."

"Fine." Citrine huffed, trying to fight off the tears in his eyes, "I won't do it."

"Sorry bro, look you can borrow my favorite shirt." The older brother smiled, hoping to cheer up his little brother.

"Thanks." Citrine said quietly, taking the shirt.  
\---------------------

Citrine didn't like lying to people, but he was desperate. He wanted to see if he was trans, before he fully committed to this. He looked around before quickly slipping into the girls bathroom, and pulled the bandages from his bag. He wrapped them around his chest, thankfully for his long red hair, for added reach. After about ten minutes he looked at his work. His large chest, which he unfortunately inherited from his mother, was flat. He smiled, letting out a laugh, but it was kind of hard to take a full breath. He pulled over his brother's big loose hoodie, grateful it would hide his bindings, and left to start the day.

After two classes, his chest started to hurt. He ignored it, biting his lip and forcing his brain to focus on the task at hand. It worked for a time, as he scribbled down equations. He liked math, it made sense to him. Math, even at its worst could be broken down into something simpler. People weren't like that, and that's what scared him. It's not that he didn't want to tell his parents the truth, it's about what telling his parents would mean. That would mean eventually having to tell his school, his teachers, and his classmates. The latter is what scared him the most. He wasn't exactly the most popular kid, unfortunately after a few incidents with his older siblings and his parents past. It meant that his friend pool was limited to mostly other half horde clone kids, kids that were new to the school and hadn't heard of the incidents, and the one's whose parents were less bothered by their kids being friends with someone whose parents were war criminals. Gender wasn't normally a big deal in most countries in Etheria, however he feared giving his bullies more things to target. This was in his mind, the last test. The final thing that in his brain cemented that this is who he really was. He smiled as he made it past his morning classes, but his chest and sides ached. He grit his teeth but he felt scared as he walked into the gym, normally today was a free day, and he hoped he just got to walk around.

"Alrighty, since it's warm out and the track is finally dry, we're going to do some sprints today." The gym teacher smiled, then sighed when he heard the groans, "it's not going to kill you."

\-------------------------------------

Hordak was in the middle of a council meeting when one of the junior staffers brought him the call. He left immediately, fear filled his body as he called his wife on his datapad. 

"Hey Squishy, what-" 

"Citrine passed out in gym class. They're in the nurse's office and I'm going to get them now."

Entrapta's face morphed to panic, tears leaked from her eyes, "are they okay? Did they say what happened?"

"No, but I'm going to find out. I'll call you when I get there." Hordak said quickly, "if they need serious medical treatment, I will let you know. Until then don't panic too much okay?"

Entrapta pulled down her welding mask, as she tried to hide the fear in her voice, "okay."  
\----------------------

Citrine stared at the cut bandages in his lap, he knew his father was most likely on his way. More than anything though, he knew his parents would be disappointed in him. He chided himself for not listening to Liam, the most irresponsible of his siblings, and ended up here. He pulled his knees up against his sore chest and felt the walls close in on him as he sobbed. The tears burst from his eyes like he had been holding back a flood, he just wished he could disappear. He almost didn't hear the knock on the door, he kept his head down, wrapping himself up in his dark crimson hair, praying to any god that would listen that the person would just go away.

"Citrine" his father's voice said softly, the twelve year old heard his father's footsteps as he sat down in the chair beside the bed, "Are you okay sweetheart?"

Citrine didn't know how long he sat curled in his cocoon of hair, his father's hand gently rubbing his back, before he finally had the courage to answer. He lifted his tear stained face from his knees, "I'm sorry dad. Please don't be mad."

"Sweetie, I'm not mad. Your mother and I are worried about you. When the nurse called us, we thought the worst. We might not know exactly what you're going through or fully understand it, but we love you so much. And you can talk to us about anything, right now I'm just glad you're okay." Hordak smiled, tears in his eyes, as he thumbed away his child's tears.

Citrine let out a deep breath, and bit his lip, "dad....I'm trans."

"Pronouns?" Hordak asked, giving his kid a reassuring smile.

"He him" Citrine sniffled.

"Well son, let's get you home okay?" Hordak said, gently rubbing his son's back.

"I think I'd like that."  
\---------------------------

Entrapta immediately examined Citrine, checking him over for any major injuries, She tried to hide her gasp when she saw the marks left by the bandages. Worried tears still leaked from her face as she gently hugged her child. "Don't ever scare me like that again."

"Yes mom" he smiled, but then bit his lip. He looked up at his father who smiled encouragingly, "mom, I need to tell you something......I'm trans. I'm a trans boy."

Entrapta just hugged him again, then pulled away, "you remember what I always say about imperfections?"

"That they're beautiful..." the boy said softly.

"Yep! Honey, I'm going to love you no matter what, and do you know what remains constant?"

"What?"

"You're my kid. Now come on son, let's look at names!" Entrapta grinned her billion watt smile.

"I actually already have one in mind." He smiled bashfully. 

The parents smiled eagerly, Hordak's arm wrapped around his wife as she bounced with anticipation.

"Copper." He said proudly.

"Awwwww he followed your name scheme" Entrapta smiled, wrapping her graying locks around her husband's arm.

Hordak just laughed, as his family came in for a hug.  
\-------------------

Cobalt, Nicole, Liam and Abby all sat in the living room as they all had been instructed by their parents. They had heard Citrine had been taken home early. This left Cobalt, Nicole and Abby nervously pensive, and Liam in a mix of guilt, worry and fury. 

Hordak and Entrapta entered the room, smiling with their youngest in between them. The dark crimson locks of Citrine seemed especially nervous and although the other three looked relieved, Liam's violet daggers were hard to miss.

"Hey guys.....I have something I wanted to tell you......I'm a transguy. Also I go by Copper." He said, his dark red hair starting to cocoon him. 

"Oh...this is surprising." Nicole said doing her best to sound like she was shocked by the news.

"Yes, very surprising." Cobalt added.

"Ditto." Abby yawned.

"Wait you knew?" Copper turned looking to Liam.

"Dude I didn't tell them!" Liam stated his hands and hair raised above his head defensively.

"Wait, so did everyone know I was trans?" Copper blinked.

"Yep!" Entrapta smiled, patting her son gently on the shoulder. 

Copper released the tension in his shoulders as his hair went back down. He felt a weight lifted off his chest. His family had his back, and as he was enjoying his positive vibes, Liam smacked him upside the head. "Ow, why?"

"If you ever do that shit again with the bandages I will cut you. Also if I, of all people, warn you about something listen."

Copper rubbed his head and was about to complain but saw the fear in his older brother's eyes. "I promise."

The family came together for a hug, although Prince Copper was still nervous about what was to come, he was grateful his family was there to support him.


End file.
